What is a dashcam?

A dashcam is a small camera which you put on your dashboard or windshield. Dashcam is the abbreviation of dashboard camera. Often the term carcam or car camera is used.

When you switch on the ignition of your vehicle, your camera will power up and start recording. The videos recorded by the carcam, will be filed on an SD card in the dashboard camera. This SD card can be removed from the camera and plugged into a computer through an SD card reader. Then you can watch and possibly share the images with others.

Manufacturers of dashcams continue to develop increasingly more functionalities. There are even models which provide video with GPS coordinates and G-forces embedded. By means of the GPS data, the vehicle speed can be measured at any time. Because of the G-force registration it can be determined when an accident happened. Nowadays these techniques are recommended to give additional insights about controversial circumstances.

A dashcam can be compared with a black box. Every aircraft has a black box, which holds important information, in case of accident or a problem. The same way a dashcam can be used in your vehicle.

Here you can find more information about why a dashcam is useful.